MUSKEGON — Officials at Mercy Health Partners’ Johnson Family Center for Cancer Care were excited last year when the center acquired its first linear accelerator, a cutting-edge device used to deliver radiation therapy.

The center recently acquired a second accelerator, furthering its ability to provide the therapy efficiently and in a timely manner.

The device uses RapidArc radiotherapy technology. While conventional radiation therapy requires a patient to lie still for up to 20 minutes, with this device, treatment can be done in less than two minutes.

RapidArc treats a patient’s entire tumor at one time, unlike other machines that treat tumors slice by slice.

“This new technology actually conforms the radiation beam to match the shape and size of each patient’s individual tumor. Everything we do is about precision, right down to the millimeter,” said Nina Johnson, Mercy Health Partners’ medical director for radiation oncology, in an interview last year.

Johnson said having a second device will enable the center to double the number of patients who have access to the technology.